The name of this online curation channel, <Femidea>, is short for “feminist ideas”. It introduces feminist-related studies and translates foreign articles that have not been offered in Korea. (Click to visit) After only three days of its launch on May 9, its Facebook page has received over 1,700 likes as of 2P.M., May 12.

The Korean parliamentary election held on April 13, 2016 was the impetus for its launch. Not a single voice for feminism could be found in the various election platforms of the parliamentary candidates who were supposed to represent all the people. This became the motivation for one of the founders of Femidea, a 28-year-old sociology graduate student Jin Dalrae. In an interview with Hankyoreh, she explained, “I found it a pity that not only the major political parties but also the minor parties that supposedly stand for liberal ideas didn’t seem to view women as valid constituents who deserved to have relevant policies or perspectives included as a major part of the parties’ political platform. It was a shame that not even a promise such as commitment to ending sexual violence made it into any of the campaign agendas.”

When she shared such sentiment on her Facebook page, more than 30 people came forward within a month, saying they wanted to join in her effort to change that. Graduate students majoring in political science, sociology and women’s studies offered to introduce academic studies of various kinds. Korean students in Spain, Germany and Taiwan volunteered to translate relevant contents generated in the respective countries. Office workers who “have to work the 9-5 job to make a living but want to do something for the feminist movement as [they] did in school” joined in as well.

In determining which contents to deliver, long-established issues like misogyny (TN: yeo-hyeom) provide good resources. “Problems with sexism and misogyny finally surfaced in Korea when an online anti-misogyny group called Megalia attracted attention last year. But the dialogue in Korean society has stopped at barely recognizing what misogyny is. By introducing a wide array of campaigns promoting the rights of women and sexual minorities, we aim to quench the thirst for feminism in Korea,” Jin said.

Launched only 3 days ago, Femidea has already published diverse contents. Its first publication on May 9 was on a study conducted by Professor Kathleen McGinn of Harvard Business School on the positive effects of working mothers on their children. The study found that children with mothers who have work experience outside the home are more likely to grow up as adults who are active in their household and workplace.

More recently, Femidea translated into Korean an article titled “Feminism against Capitalism”, published in an American socialist magazine, Jacobin. The article claims, “Ultimately the goals of a radical feminism and socialism are the same – justice and equality for all people”, pointing out how deeply rooted sexism cannot be eradicated just by depending on the success of a few token high-status women.

Jin noted, “I believe there is enough demand for gender-equality and minority rights movements in our society. I hope to contribute to forming a social dialogue on the subject by actively introducing researches that can reverse the preconceived gender roles.”